


The Scottish Play

by thelogicalloganipus (awkwardkermitfrog)



Category: Thomas Sanders
Genre: Faust - Freeform, Gen, Macbeth - Freeform, Sanders Sides - Freeform, Shakespeare, The Scottish Play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-01-22 06:12:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12475236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awkwardkermitfrog/pseuds/thelogicalloganipus
Summary: WAY back on my original Sanders Sides blog I wrote this. I'm resurrecting it. Enjoy.





	1. Chapter 1

“Yet, wherefore turns my gaze to yonder point so lightly? Is yonder flask a magnet for mine eyes? Whence, all around me, glows the air so brightly; As when in woods…” 

 

Virgil rolled his eyes as he watched Roman monologue away, hiding a little bit behind the thick velvet curtains. It was somewhat entertaining to watch as he pranced around, dramatically talking about potions and the devil. The play didn’t do much to capture Virgil’s interest however. The dialogue was incredibly long and complicated, and the play itself would take about four hours once finally put together. Most of it seemed, to him, to just be an excuse for Roman to hear the sound of his own voice. Virgil generally didn’t mind putting up with Roman’s irrational fantasies, but lately his obsession with being center stage was driving him crazy. 

 

“Line!” Roman shouted from the stage. He threw his hands down. “I’ve forgotten my line.” He repeated, a little more quietly. Thank god this was just a rehearsal, and an early one at that. He paced around, frustrated, and looked over at Virgil hiding behind the curtain. “You know if you can see them, they can see you. Everyone’s going to see you if you just stand there.” 

 

“I know.” Virgil said quietly. “Sorry.”

 

“You’re fine, it’s just… this play is very long.” He looked across to the other side of the stage. “Where’s Patton when you need a prompter?” 

 

“Here!” Patton called out from the auditorium. He was sitting somewhere in the middle, grinning. “Roman, you were doing so well, why’d you stop?” 

 

“Because I need you to assist me on memorizing these lines.” Roman shook his head and sat down on the edge of the stage, his legs dangling. “A prompter is supposed to be on stage, we’ve talked about this.”

 

“But I want to watch you.” Patton said, suddenly seeming small and helpless. “You’re so good up there.”

 

“We could get Logan to be the prompter.” Virgil mused, stepping out onto the stage. The lights were bright, even in rehearsal, and he immediately looked down to gain his bearings. “He’s not really doing anything important.”

 

“Excuse me, I can hear you all, you know, and the job of manning the lights is very important.” A voice from a microphone in the sound booth sternly added to the conversation. 

 

“Logan! Come out here and talk with us!” Patton turned around, his hands on his hips. “We need a prompter!”

 

“We already agreed that you would be a good prompter, Patton.” Logan said, once again from inside the tech booth. “You have to be on stage for that to happen, though. Why not Virgil?”

“We all know why Virgil wouldn’t be good.” Roman scoffed. “I mean -” He looked over at Virgil, who was staring at his hands, looking defeated. “I didn’t mean that.” 

 

“Whatever.” Virgil muttered, stepping off the stage and walking over to Patton. “Guess I’ll stay out here.” 

 

“What we need is a simpler play.” Patton said thoughtfully. 

 

“Yeah, you’re right.” Roman ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “We need to do something… shorter. Faust is fantastic and dark and beautiful but it’s just too much for one person to memorize.” 

 

“What about Macbeth?” Virgil asked, stopping outside of the aisle where Patton was standing. 

 

Roman looked up sharply. “Don’t say that.”

 

“Macbeth.” Virgil said again, grinning slyly. 

 

“Why shouldn’t he say Macbeth?” Patton asked, his eyes filled with wonder. 

 

“Because - because it’s bad luck. Supposedly. Superstition.” Logan had stepped out of the sound booth and was walking towards them, his arms crossed. “Silly really, how a play could cause thespians to be so afraid. It’s only Shakespeare’s Macbeth.”

 

“I said don’t say that.” Roman stepped down from the stage and was looking out at each of them angrily. “You don’t know what could happen.” 

 

“Nothing will happen. It is positively silly to believe in such superstitions.” Logan said matter of factly, adjusting his glasses. “Honestly, Roman, you don’t believe in such nonsense?”

 

Roman walked around the front and down the aisle, next to Virgil and across from Logan. Patton looked between them both, still smiling, his eyebrows raised with curiosity. Virgil glanced from Logan to Patton to Roman, and before he could stop himself, whispered, “Macbeth.”

 

“Stop it!” Roman shouted, turning away from them. “Stop saying it! Only bad things happen when you say that in the theater!”

 

“Seems to me you’re getting pretty worked up there, kiddo. You need to go cool off?” Patton asked gently. 

 

“No, just… Virgil, I wish you’d stop saying it.” Roman’s voice was full of worry, an odd trait for him to display. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to us.”

 

“I’m just teasing you.” Virgil put his hand behind his head and looked over at Patton and Logan, who were both crossing their arms and sharing a look of disdain for Virgil’s actions. “I’m going to take a walk, alright?” Without waiting for them to reply, Virgil walked down the aisle and out the double doors of the auditorium.

 

The auditorium that they had permission to use was part of a high school. Next to it all along the walls were drawings that had been selected over the years to be part of an art exhibit. Virgil walked along, looking at them, trying to remain calm, trying not to be overcome by anxiety. He hadn’t meant to anger anyone. He just wanted to tease Roman, just a little playful teasing. He decided one lap around the school ought to be enough to calm his nerves and began walking away from the auditorium down the hallway. It was dim, the lights only half on, which made Virgil shiver. He pulled his hoodie closer around his body as he walked, quickening his pace as each light got darker and darker. He frowned, noticing that not only were the lights getting dimmer, but that the area around them was getting darker as well, almost as if he were walking into blackness. That didn’t make any sense, though. He continued walking, faster and faster, his shoulders becoming stiff and his muscles becoming rigid as he stepped closer and closer into blackness. And then, one step forward, and he fell. 

 

There was nothing around him, a sudden THUNK, and then he felt his body hit concrete. He sat up slowly, cautiously, looking all around, eyes wild. Above him were the tops of curtains and the empty ceiling that was always above the backstage of a theater. He looked behind him to see that he was indeed backstage at the very theater he’d just walked away from. Gradually he stood up, still holding his head, trying to figure out what was going on. He stepped behind the curtain, looking out to see Roman monologuing. 

 

“...turns my gaze to yonder point so lightly? Is yonder flask a magnet for mine eyes? Whence, all around me, glows the air so brightly; As when in woods…”

 

Virgil’s eyes grew wide and he clamped his hand over his mouth and he began to take sharp, shallow breaths. He did his best to stay as silent as possible, staring out at Roman, completely unsure what to say, what to think. 

 

“Line!” Roman shouted from the stage. Virgil watched with disbelief as Roman threw his hands down. “I’ve forgotten my line.” He began to pace, and looked over at Virgil hiding behind the curtain. “You know if you can see them, they can see you. Everyone’s going to see you if you just stand there.” 

 

“I - I know.” Virgil stammered. “Sorry.”

 

“You’re fine, it’s just… this play is very long.” Virgil turned away and listened as the conversation from before played out exactly as it had earlier. “Where’s Patton when you need a prompter?” 

 

This kind of thing didn't’ happen, this kind of thing didn’t happen in real life. 

 

“Here! Roman, you were doing so well, why’d you stop?” 

 

This kind of thing couldn’t happen, this kind of thing shouldn’t happen in real life-

 

“Because I need you to assist me on memorizing these lines. A prompter is supposed to be on stage, we’ve talked about this.”

 

Virgil sank to his knees, hyperventilating now, still trying to be silent as possible as he thought through all the possibilities. He’d had a dream. A very real, very life like dream. He’d taken a walk in that dream. Everything that happened in the dream was happening now. No. Not logical. That definitely wasn’t logical. 

 

“Hey guys!”

 

Virgil tried to make himself smaller, as small as possible, wishing he had the power to run from the situation. 

 

“Get up here, something’s very wrong with Virgil!” 

 

Virgil found himself tapping his leg, breathing rapidly and jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to see Roman looking at him with wide, concerned eyes. Soon behind him were Patton and Logan, all looking down at him with the same expression of worry. 

 

“Virgil?” Patton asked quietly, kneeling down. “You don’t have to be in the play if you don’t want to be.”

 

Roman nodded. “Yeah, you can hang out in the dressing room if you want. You don’t have to even be back stage if it makes you this anxious.” 

 

Virgil looked at Logan, not sure what to hope for. He looked at Patton and Roman, not sure what to tell them. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you why I was scared.”

 

“Nonsense, try me!” Patton smiled at him, encouraging Virgil to say what was on his mind. “We want to know what it is, so that we can help fix it.”

 

“It’s probably that the play is too complicated.” Logan mused. “Faust is so… wordy. We should do something simpler. Like Macbeth.” 

 

Just then, the power in the theater went out. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know, what a creative chapter title!  
> Warning: Blood, cursing

Virgil blinked around, staring, listening, waiting. He could feel his pulse in his ears. His breathing was rapid and shallow. 

But there it was again, Roman’s voice.

“...turns my gaze to yonder point so lightly? Is yonder flask a magnet for mine eyes? Whence, all around me, glows the air so brightly; As when in woods…”

Virgil waited, not daring to breathe.

It wouldn’t happen three times in a row.

It couldn’t happen three times in a row.

There just- this didn’t happen. 

“I’m in a nightmare.” Virgil whispered. “A very realistic nightmare.” He began to pace behind the curtain, going backstage, away from the others, where he could talk to himself a little. “I’m just having a dream within a dream. Sooner or later I’ll-”

“Line!” 

Virgil stopped. It was Roman, yelling for his line, for Patton to be his prompter. 

“No.” Virgil shook his head, running his hands through his hair. “No, this just happened. Shit like this doesn’t happen.” 

“Virgil, you’re supposed to be my prompter because Patton insists on sitting in the crowd! Where are you?” 

Virgil glanced around, looking for a place to hide from Roman. The balcony - there were enough props up there, it could work. He sprinted back and around to the small metal ladder, skipping steps as he went up it, grateful for the lightness of his feet. He stopped at the top, heart pounding, concealed behind a large star of sorts. 

“Virgil?”

Virgil said nothing, did nothing.

“Must’ve run off somewhere.... Probably got nervous. Poor kid.” Patton’s voice came through that time. Virgil didn’t move, still weighing his options. The last time it had happened, he had panicked, unable to think or breathe. Now… would one of the sides say it again? If they did, what would happen? 

What would happen if he wrote it down?

“Come on, Virgil, this isn’t a good time for hide and seek.” Logan’s voice, scoffing at him. 

Virgil leaned against the star, heart still pounding. Maybe if he wrote it down, he could convey the message that they couldn’t say it.

But no, this was a dream. Surely a dream. There were no need for precautions in a dream - you just had to wake up.

“Come on, wake up.” Virgil closed his eyes, trying to make his physical body move, the way he did sometimes when having a bad dream. “You’re having a nightmare. Wake up.” He tried to get his conscious body to move, his arm to move. He opened his eyes and saw that his arm had, in fact, raised up. 

“Virgil! Kiddo!” Patton’s voice, calling up the stairs of the balcony. Virgil moved quickly to the side, looking for some things to hide under. He carefully tucked himself behind some large props, folding his body into the corner, trying to ignore the possible spiders living there. He froze, hearing Patton’s feet patter around the balcony, not daring to breathe.

“Is he up there?” Logan’s voice.

“It doesn’t look like it.” Patton’s voice grew distant as his feet went down the stairs, heavier than Virgil’s. “I wonder where he ran off too?”

“Who knows. We could all use a break anyway.” Roman’s voice, tired from monologuing. “I think we should do an easier play.”

“Like M-”

Virgil screamed throwing himself forward, over the props, tripping. He felt his ribs smack into a wooden box and moaned in pain, rolling over onto the dusty floor. 

There was a pause. Virgil, winded, tried to catch his breath, and waited, listening.

“...Virgil?” Patton’s voice again. “Was that you, kiddo?” 

Virgil tried to respond, but his lungs wouldn’t fill with air. He closed his eyes, praying no one said the ‘M’ word, something he was beginning to feel afraid to think.

He shifted, sitting up slightly, looking down through the bars on the balcony to see a very confused trio staring up at him. 

“...hi.” He mumbled weakly. 

“Virgil, what on earth are you doing up there?” Logan adjusted his glasses, looking perplexed. “We’re not supposed to be using those props.”

Virgil looked down, looking at the walls next to him that had fallen in his wake. “Uh… sorry.”

“Well, get down, would you?” Logan tilted his head to the side, crossing his arms. “Anway, as I was saying, maybe we could try a simpler play, Roman. This one is very long, and I know you want to do a one man show, but Faust is simply too complex for you to memorize.”

“Nonsense.”

Virgil listened, carefully stepping over the props he’d knocked over, figuring he’d pick them up later. It was hard to see in the dimmer light backstage, anyway. His ears were perked on high alert, waiting for someone to say it. 

“What about some Shakespeare instead? Something with a lot of dialogue, something with many monologues.” Logan positied. Patton clapped happily.

Virgil began to step down the stairs, careful, slow, ears still piqued. 

“Well, what do you have in mind, professor?” Roman’s tone was sarcastic, but implied that he was interested. It was true that Faust was incredibly challenging. 

“Well, what about Ma-”

“No!” Virgil jumped around the staircase, running, slamming his body into Logan. They both fell to the floor, crashing into the concrete, Logan’s shoulder bruising, his head hitting the ground, Virgil’s knee hitting the dirty floor. 

There was a moment of heavy breathing, and then a groan from Logan. Virgil looked up, head near his neck, and watched as a small pool of blood began to seep from his hair. 

“Shit, Virgil!” Roman crotched down, eyes wide. “What the hell, man!”

“Oh my god.” Patton wrung his hands. “Oh my god.”

Virgil stumbled backwards, away, hands shaking. He shook his head - he hadn’t meant to hurt Logan, he just hadn’t wanted the cycle to restart. 

“Call 911, Pat!” Roman ran his hands through Logan’s hair, looking at Logan with worry. Virgil shook his head, staring. But then he realized: he had a reset button. A way to undo what he'd done to Logan.

Virgil sighed, closed his eyes and whispered, “Macbeth.”

The theater went dark. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments give me life. Find me on tumblr @thelogicalloganipus. -Thelo


	3. Such as Macbeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter is upon us!

“Yet, wherefore turns my gaze to yonder point so lightly? Is yonder flask a magnet for mine eyes? Whence, all around me, glows the air so brightly; As when in woods…” 

Virgil breathed out relief and put his hand to his eyes, shaking his head, his body shuddering slightly. 

He nearly whispered the word but caught himself, shaking his head, waiting to see if Roman would say it again.

“Line!” Virgil watched as Roman threw his hands down again, now for the fourth time. “I’ve forgotten my line.” He found himself mouthing the words along with him, knowing exactly when each party would speak.

“Virgil, you’re supposed to be my prompter because Patton insists on sitting in the crowd! Where are you?” Virgil muttered along with Roman. He watched as Roman turned to him, frustrated, and said with him, “You know if you can see them, they can see you. Everyone’s going to see you if you just stand there.” 

Virgil watched as Roman stopped, startled. “Did you just speak along with me?” 

Virgil nodded, and then said along with Patton, “Roman, you were doing so well, why’d you stop?”

“Hang on, Patton - Virgil, how on earth are you doing that?”

Virgil’s mind clicked: a way to convince them he wasn’t crazy. “This has happened before. It may happen again.” He paused a moment, observing Roman’s shocked face, and said along with Logan, “Excuse me, I can hear you all, you know, and the job of manning the lights is very important.” 

Roman had walked up to him now, mouth agape, gesturing for the others to come up to him, not saying anything. As he stood there, mesmerized by him, Virgil talked along with Patton and Logan again: “Logan! Come out here and talk with us! We need a prompter!” 

And: “We already agreed that you would be a good prompter, Patton. You have to be on stage for that to happen, though. Why not Virgil?”

“Because Virgil knows what we’re going to say before we say it.” Roman muttered. It was his turn to shake his head. Virgil bit his lip, uncertain what to do or say next. “Wait. You didn’t say that with me.”

“Parts change.” Virgil said quietly, watching as Patton and Logan walked up behind Roman, onto the stage. 

“What’s going on, why are you guys over here? And Roman why - you look quite shocked about something.” Logan mused, tilting his head towards Roman.

“That’s - he’s - he just -”

“What, what’s going on with Virgil?” Patton asked, also tilting his head.

Virgil sighed. He closed his eyes. He thought a moment, wondering how to tell them, what to say. He opened his eyes to see all of them looking at him, waiting, confused expressions on their faces.

“I don’t know how to tell you this, but I think we’re cursed.” Virgil said quietly. 

Logan scoffed and rolled his eyes. Patton looked alarmed. Roman looked quiet, pensive. 

“This has happened before. It has happened three times - the beginning is always the same, but other parts are… different.” Virgil pinched himself below his arm, lightly, and bit his cheek, sighing and continuing. “I made a joke and I don’t know how to undo it.”

“Hold on, but none of what you’re saying is logical.” Logan said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Time loops do not exist. Wormholes are theoretical, not real.”

“He said what we were saying. Exactly. How could he- how did you know what we were going to say?” Roman asked, crossing his arms.

“Because this is the fourth time it’s happened.” Virgil said quietly. 

“You know, Virgil, I think rehearsal is getting to your head. We should do a different play.” Logan said, turning away and shaking his head. “Like.. perhaps something Shakespearean.”

“No, stop! Listen to me!” Virgil shouted, stepping out towards Logan, stomping onto the stage. “Stop talking, stop talking right now, all of you!” 

“Virgil, by god what-”

“Stop!” Virgil turned to each of them, fists clenched, knuckles white. “Stop, now!”

“I was simply going to suggest Macbeth.”

* * *

 

Black. Black again. Virgil waited, closing his eyes, shaking his head, tears in his eyes, sinking behind the curtains of the theater. 

“Yet, wherefore turns my gaze to yonder point so lightly? Is yonder flask a magnet for mine eyes? Whence, all around me, glows the air so brightly; As when in woods…” 

Virgil shook his head, stepping into the darkness, wrapping himself in a heavy blue curtain, a tear rolling down his cheek.

“I can stop it.” Virgil muttered. “I can stop it.”

“Line!”

“I can stop it.” Virgil whispered.

“I’ve forgotten my line.” 

“I can’t be trapped here.” Virgil breathed.

“Virgil, you’re supposed to be my prompter because Patton insists on sitting in the crowd! Where are you?”

Virgil shook his head, running his hands through his hair, panicked.  “It goes on with or without me.”

“Roman, you were doing so well, why’d you stop?”

“No. No. No.” Virgil stumbled backwards, towards the props, behind another curtain, fingernails clawing into his arms. “No no no no.”

“A prompter is supposed to be on stage, we’ve talked about this.” 

“No.” Virgil turned around, walking up the stairs to the props, shaking his head. “No. Please. Not again. Please.”

“But I want to watch you.” 

“No.” Virgil found himself behind a prop, hidden, pulling on his hoodie.

“You’re so good up there.”

“I believe we should try a simpler play.” Logan’s voice could be heard from the stage. “Such as Macbeth.”

* * *

 

Blackness.

Virgil’s heart hammered. He didn’t dare open his eyes. 

He didn’t dare to breathe.

“Yet, wherefore turns my gaze to yonder point so lightly? Is yonder flask a magnet for mine eyes? Whence, all around me, glows the air so brightly; As when in woods…” 

“Not again, not again, not again.” Virgil muttered, shaking his head. “Not again, not again.”

“Line!”

Virgil stuffed his hands over his ears, backing again into the now too familiar darkness of backstage. He shook his head and heard his pulse in his ears, hands pressed as hard as he could over hearing anything, anything. He found himself muttering the words, knowing the lines, knowing what they would say, whispering them, tears rolling off his nose.

“I’ve forgotten my line. Virgil, you’re supposed to be my prompter because Patton insists on sitting in the crowd! Where are you?.... Roman, you were doing so well, why’d you stop?...A prompter is supposed to be on stage, we’ve talked about this…. But I want to watch you….You’re so good up there….“I believe we should try a simpler play. Such as Macbeth.”

* * *

 

Blackness.

Virgil shook his head, body shaking, withdrawing again, listening for Roman’s line, repeating it under his breath again, stuck there again.

“Such as Macbeth.”

* * *

 

Blackness. 

Virgil was there again, behind the curtain again, waiting for Roman’s line again. He was repeating the lines again. He was chewing his nails so hard they bled. He felt snot out of his nose and tears on his face and found himself retreating again, knowing when it would come again.

“Such as Macbeth.”

* * *

 

Blackness.

Virgil remembered when he’d tried to stop Logan from saying it, when he’d hurt Logan. 

“Such as Macbeth.”

 

“Such as Macbeth.”

 

“Such as Macbeth.”

* * *

 

“Such as Macbeth.”

“Such as Macbeth… such as Macbeth… such as Mac-”

“Virgil! Kiddo wake up!”

* * *

 

Virgil shot forward towards Patton, body lurching into his arms. His chest stopped at his shoulder, everything slamming forward, Virgil breathing so hard that he didn’t register Patton wrapping his arms around him. 

“Hey, breathe, it’s okay. It was just a nightmare. Breathe kiddo… there you go…”

Virgil found his body shuddering, shaking, and sank into Pattons arms, tears on his cheeks. 

“Breathe kiddo. Just keep breathing.” Virgil felt Patton’s hand moving up and down his back gently, soothing him, and let out a small sob. “Breathe.”

“It was just a dream.” Virgil whispered. “Just a dream.” 

“It was just a dream kiddo.” Patton said, his voice reassuring. “It was just a dream.”

“We were in this- we were rehearsing a play - and Roman kept forgetting his lines, and then, and then it kept - I hurt Logan and I didn’t mean to. But I couldn’t get out, I couldn’t get it to stop, Patton, I couldn’t make it stop.” 

“I know, kiddo. I know.” Virgil was breathing now, calming now, Patton’s hand moving up and down his back gently still. “Do you want me to stay in your room for the night?”

“Ye-yeah.” Virgil nodded, finally pulling away. “Yeah. Sorry I woke you up.”

“It’s okay, I just got really worried when you started yelling.” Patton smiled gently, and Virgil found the relief flooding through his body was enough to make him tired again.

“Just a dream.” Virgil whispered, body relaxing. “Just a dream.”

* * *

 

Virgil took a long shower that morning, feeling the beads of water run over his back and hair, scrubbing off a long night’s worth of sweat. He closed his eyes and leaned back and hummed, hearing the vibrato throughout the confines of the bathroom, smiling. Everything felt good. Everything felt pleasant and, above all, Virgil reminded himself as he palmed soap into his hand, everything felt real.

* * *

  
  


“Good morning, Verge! How’d you sleep?” Roman asked as Virgil walked into the kitchen with Patton, both their faces smeared with exhaustion.

“Not well.” Virgil said quietly, making his way to the coffee maker. He busied himself with the machine as the other three talked amongst themselves, listening to their plans for the day, smiling. He poured out the coffee and reflected on how good it tasted, how solid everything felt. He inhaled deeply, sitting at the table, readying himself for a pleasant day. 

“Hey, Virgil, I wanted to get your opinion on a debate between Roman and I.” Logan said, folding his newspaper, and turning towards him.

“Sure. What’s up?” 

“Well, Roman wants to put on a production of Faust. I believe it is too complicated for him.

Virgil’s stomach dropped. 

“I was thinking of a simpler play.” 

Virgil froze.

“Such as Macbeth.”

 

The lights in the kitchen went out.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr @thelogicalloganipus


End file.
